Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?

* Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, ta

bellas,

Argentum, vestes Gætulo murice tinctas,

Sunt qui non habeant; est qui non curat habere.

b

Cur alter fratrum cessare, et ludere, et ungi

Præferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus; alter
Dives et importunus, ad umbram lucis ab ortu
Silvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum :
Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum :
NATURÆ DEUS HUMANÆ, mortalis in unum-
Quodque caput, vultu mutabilis, albus, et ater.

NOTES.

Ver. 264. Gold, Silver,] These four lines are fine examples of the close, energetic, comprehensive, style of which he was so perfect a master.

Ver. 273. All Townshend's Turnips,] Lord Townshend, Secretary of State to George the First and Second. - When this great Statesman retired from business, he amused himself in Husbandry; and was particularly fond of that kind of rural improvement which arises from Turnips; it was the favourite subject of his conversation. W.

He is said to have been slow in his parts, rough in his manners, and impatient of contradiction; but generous and humane at bottom; and of strong, good judgment.

Ver. 274. Like Bu-] Bubb Doddington, afterward Lord Melcombe, whose curious Diary has discovered many despicable court-secrets and mean intrigues.

Ver. 277. Fly, like Oglethorpe,] Employed in settling the Colony of Georgia. P.

Here are lines that will justly confer immortality on a man who well deserved so magnificent a eulogium. He was at once a great hero and a great legislator. The vigour of his mind and body have seldom been equalled. The vivacity of his genius continued to a great old age. The variety of his adventures, and the very different scenes in which he had been engaged, make one regret that his life has never been written. Dr. JohnInexorable Death shall level all,

And trees, and stones, and farms, and farmer, fall.

*Gold, Silver, Iv'ry, Vases sculptur'd high,

Paint, Marble, Gems, and robes of Persian die, There are who have not-and thank Heav'n there

are,

266

Who, if they have not, think not worth their care.

b

Talk what you will of Taste, my friend, you'll

find

270

Two of a face, as soon as of a mind.
Why, of two brothers, rich and restless one
Ploughs, burns, manures, and toils, from sun to sun;
The other slights, for women, sports, and wines,
All Townshend's Turnips, and all Grosvenor's mines :
Why one like Bu--- with pay and scorn content,
Bows and votes on, in Court and Parliament; 275
One driv'n by strong Benevolence of soul,
Shall fly, like Oglethorpe, from pole to pole:
Is known alone to that Directing Pow'r,
Who forms the Genius in the natal hour;
That God of Nature, who, within us still,
Inclines our action, not constrains our will;

NOTES.

280

son once offered to do it, if the General would furnish the materials. Johnson had a great regard for him, for he was one of the first persons that highly, in all companies, praised his London. His first campaign was made under Prince Eugene, against the Turks; and this great General always spoke of Oglethorpe in the highest terms. Neither he nor Eugene loved Marlborough. He once told me (for I had the pleasure of knowing him well), that Eugene, speaking of Marlborough, said, "There is a great difference in making war en maitre, or en avocat." But his set, tlement of the Colony in Georgia gave a greater lustre to his character than even his military exploits.

Ver. 280, That God of Nature, &c.] Here our Poet had an

C

Utar, et ex modico, quantum res poscet, acervo

Tollam: nec metuam, quid de me judicet hæres,
Quod non plura datis invenerit. et tamen idem
Scire volam, quantum simplex hilarisque nepoti
Discrepet, et quantum discordet parcus avaro.
Distat enim, spargas tua prodigus, an neque sum-

ptum

Invitus facias, nec plura parare labores;
Ac potius, puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim,
Exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim.

Pauperies immunda procul procul absit: ego, utrum
Nave ferar magna an parva; ferar unus et idem.
Non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo :
Non tamen adversis ætatem ducimus Austris.
Viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re,
Extremi primorum, extremis usque priores.

Non es avarus: abi. quid! cætera jam simul isto Cum vitio fugere? caret tibi pectus inani

NOTES.

opportunity of illustrating his own Philosophy; and so giving a much better sense to his Original; and correcting both the Naturalism and the Fate of Horace, which are covertly conveyed in these words:

"Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum,
NATURÆ DEUS HUMANE." W.

Ver. 302. In pow'r, wit,] The six words in the Original,

"Viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re,"

are wonderfully close, emphatical, and compact; but I think they could hardly be better expressed than by our Author. He has not, perhaps, succeeded so well in imitating another line below,

"Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas,"

Various of temper, as of face or frame,
Each individual: His great End the same.

Yes, Sir, how small soever be my heap,
A part I will enjoy, as well as keep.
My heir may sigh, and think it want of grace
A man so poor wouid live without a place :
But sure no statute in his favour says,

How free, or frugal, I shall pass my days:
I, who at some times spend, at others spare,
Divided between carelessness and care.
'Tis one thing madly to disperse my store;
Another, not to heed to treasure more ;
Glad, like a Boy, to snatch the first good day,
And pleas'd, if sordid Want be far away.

What is't to me (a passenger God wot),
Whether my vessel be first rate or not?
The Ship itself may make a better figure,
But I that fail, am neither less nor bigger.
I neither strut with ev'ry fav'ring breath,
Nor strive with all the tempest in my teeth.
In pow'r, wit, figure, virtue, fortune, plac'd
Behind the foremost, and before the last.
8" But why all this of Av'rice? I have none."
I wish you joy, Sir, of a Tyrant gone :

285

290

295

300

305

Ambitione? caret mortis formidine et ira?
Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas,
Nocturnos lemures, portentaque Thessala rides?

Natales grate numeras? ignoscis amicis?

Lenior et melior fis accedente senecta?

Quid te exempta levat spinis de pluribus una?

h

Vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis.

Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti :

Tempus abire tibi est: ne potum largius æquo
Rideat, et pulset lasciva decentius ætas.

NOTES.

Ver. 312. Survey both worlds,] It is observable with what sobriety he has corrected the licentiousness of his Original, which made the expectation of another world a part of that superstition he would explode; whereas the Imitator is only for removing the false terrors from the world of spirits; such as the diablerie of witchcraft and purgatory. W.

If this was the intention of the Imitator, he should not have inserted the words, devil and fire.

Ver. 326. Leave such to trifle] It, perhaps, might have been better to have omitted these two last lines; the second of which has a quaint and modern turn; and the humour consists in being driven off the stage, potum largius æquo. The word lusisti in the Original, is used in a loose and naughty sense, says Upton. As also 1. 4. 13. Od. and in Propertius,

"-populus lusit Erichthonius."